Frostbite Forces Adventurer to Quit Antarctic Trek

Below:

Next story in Science

Seasoned adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has had to quit his
attempt to be the first person to cross the South Pole on skis
during the brutal Antarctic winter.

Fiennes, who has abundant experience in
harsh environments, will be evacuated from the coldest
continent after developing a case of frostbite, according to a
blog post on the website of the
expedition, called The Coldest Journey. Fiennes and his team
made the decision to have him evacuated while it was still
possible before the beginning of the formidable winter, with its
near-permanent darkness and temperatures as low as minus 130
degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius).

"This decision has not been taken lightly and it is, naturally, a
huge disappointment to Fiennes and his colleagues," the post
said.

Fiennes will be driven by Ski-Doo, a type of snowmobile, some 40
miles (70 kilometers) from his team's current location to
Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Station, located near the coast of
East Antarctica, according to the blog post. From there, he will
make his way by plane to Cape Town, South Africa.

The evacuation plan is currently being hampered by a blizzard at
the team's location.

Once Fiennes is evacuated, the rest of the team has elected to
carry on with the journey. They are still slated to begin their
crossing on the originally planned date of March 21. The full
crossing route will take them from Princess Elisabeth through the
interior of the continent to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole
Station (named for the two explorers that
raced to be the first to the South Pole ), then over the
Transantarctic Mountains onto the Ross Ice Shelf and to the
United States' McMurdo Station, situated on the shore of the Ross
Sea. In total, the trek will cover more than 2,000 miles (3,200
km) and take six months.

Fiennes has gone on previous Antarctic and Arctic excursions,
climbed to the summit of Mount Everest and run seven marathons in
seven days on seven continents, according to his expedition
biography.